Photo: Public Domain | Wikimedia Commons
When the US Mint’s American Women Quarters program concludes next year, it will have elevated the stories of 20 women from diverse backgrounds whose contributions to US culture have often not been celebrated – or even widely known. Getting women’s portraits onto quarters has been about correcting a history of exclusion, and about making sure their faces are cast next to those of the founding fathers. “These women just haven’t been seen and their historical moments haven’t been taught,” said Rep. Barbara Lee from California who introduced the legislation that created the program. “Our young people especially will be empowered by their stories.” The focus of the program was diversity, of race, geography, age, and work. The public was invited to nominate women; more than 11,000 submissions came in. Among those chosen were an astronaut, composer, surgeon, film star, writer, and disability rights activist. Christian Nunes, president of National Organization for Women, showed a newly minted quarter to her young son, and later reflected, “When he grows up, he will think nothing else than to expect a Black woman’s face on the quarter.”
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